If Manchester City were managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, they’d be the ones
celebrating winning the Premier League title this weekend.

For 100 years, I would advocate the view that the league has been won by the club with the best players. For the last two seasons, it has been the manager who has made the difference.

Give Ferguson the squad City have and put Roberto Mancini in charge of the current Manchester United side, and City would have won the title by 20 points.

United are on the verge of winning it again because City have capitulated and their manager has made too many mistakes, the biggest of which is failing to gel his assortment of talented players.

I look at City and I don’t see the togetherness, the spirit and kind of team bonding which is fundamental to any title success. These are the qualities United possess in abundance and which Ferguson has instilled into his club.

You don’t get the histrionics we’ve seen at City at Old Trafford, or if you do it happens only once a season and is dealt with immediately.

Mancini has allowed this cult of the individual to sabotage his title bid. Watching his side effectively give up their last hope of catching United at the Emirates yesterday, there was only one player who symbolised everything you need at this stage of the season. Vincent Kompany, the City captain, was heroic at centre-half. A genuine leader, brave and prepared to put his body on the line for his team-mates.

Then you see Mario Balotelli, yet again the villain of the piece.

To win the league you need four or five with the heart of Kompany and you need to root out the likes of Balotelli. United have four or five like Kompany and none of the disruptive influences, and that’s because the manager identifies potential problems quickly and efficiently.

Mancini is culpable. It’s down to him to create the right spirit in the side. He shouldn’t be allowing his players to use weekends off to go to all four corners of the globe. Again, compare his approach to Ferguson, who took his players away for a golfing weekend in Scotland to ensure they were mentally prepared as a unit for the final straight.

It shows on the pitch the way United fight for each other, look after each other and make sure if one of them is down, there are 10 others to lift him up.

One word sums this up. Reliability.

Ferguson will look around his dressing room, glare into the eyes of each of his players and know he can trust them. Those same players will do likewise to their team-mates and feel exactly the same.

Is it the same in the City dressing room before kick-off? Will Kompany look at Balotelli and seriously believe he won’t let the side down? Would anyone be surprised by his sending off yesterday?

If we were still in an era of 11 players and two subs, it would be impossible to keep a dressing room together in which everyone liked each other. With 20-man squads it’s even more challenging managing all the personalities.

Ferguson excels at this, unifying all the elements of his side by ensuring they work for the common good. Mancini has been unable to replicate it at the Etihad Stadium.

I will never advocate a manager losing his job, but it’s a fair observation Mancini is now in danger of losing his given the size of the lead City have thrown away and the failure to use the resources at his disposal as effectively as he should.

Tactically, they’ve become predictable too. Opposing sides have worked them out, recognising they play too narrow. Earlier in the season they were ripping sides apart with the high tempo passing game, but now they look out on their feet.

David Silva was unavailable yesterday because he wasn’t given enough rest earlier in the season. Again, Mancini must take responsibility for not ensuring his main players retained their freshness for the most crucial period of the campaign.

The enduring image of the season will be of City, undermined by Mancini’s inexplicable faith in Balotelli – who I didn’t believe would be picked again after his performance against Chelsea – and United’s Paul Scholes.

He may have played only 14 games, but Scholes is my Player of the Year. Calm, assured, magnificent on the ball and someone who everyone at Old Trafford will look at before an important fixture and say: ‘He is someone you can trust.’

That’s what it all comes down to when the going is toughest. Being able to trust your team and having players who trust each other.

That is why United are going to be champions again and the agonising wait for those City fans will linger on.